Apparatus for dispersing material in air



Y 9 E. PIQUEREZ 9 APPARATUS FOR DISPERSING MATERIAL IN AIR Filed June 13, 1941 2 Sheets-Sheet l f -11 28 22 I 12 29 I! A X A45 23-: 27 33 i 26 E 2 May 1, 1945.

E. PIQUEREZ APPARATUS FOR DISPERSING MATERIAL IN AIR Filed June 15, 194i z s eets-sneetf 2 F'IG3 Patented May 1, 1945 UNITED STAT E s ...-PATENT OFFICE APPARATUS FOR DISPERSING MATERIAL IN Emile Piquerez, Saint-Cloud, France; vested in the Alien Property Custodian Application June 13, 1941, Serial No. 397,993

2 Claims 01. 261-89) sary to usecomplicated fluid-tight devices of limited duration.

In accordance with the invention, the film-or the vapouris created by the use of centrifugal force which by the adherent sticking of the fluid used (or of the powder) on the rotary member, converts said fluid--or said pwderinto a fi1mor into a vapour; the film or the vapour followin a path having a suitable curve so as to issue tangentially (horizontal sheets).

The ultra-dispersion produced, the particles of which are subjected to Brownian motion, depends on the superficial exciting effect of centrifugal force and the thinning of the film in formation on the rotary member produces, during the rotation, the desired superficial increase.

of the film.

The exciting can be increased by circulation of air or other gas and by heat exchange.

The apparatus provided for the production of said film is essentially characterised by the fact that it comprises a rotary receiver arranged in such a manner that the fluid--or the powderto be treated falls therein by gravity or is pro- .l'ected therein.

In said apparatus the evaporation of the fluid resulting from centrifugal force due to the action of the rotary receiver is advantageousl excited by means of any suitably directed current, the

profile of the rotary receiver and the Walls of I duced can be used without'moreover modifying the general operation of the apparatus.

The placing in suspension'in the atmosphere of various products necessitates, in accordance with this process and with the apparatus allowing it to be carried into practice, only'very small quantities of said products, comparatively to the known atomization process. Furthermore, the extremely divided products have a much greater activity than when they are in vapour form.

The scope of application of the invention is very wide since in practice it can extend from a private room or a hospital ward for obtaining in such enclosures air which is chemically and bacteriologically pure, up to the creation of smoke same results being obtained on a smaller scale in In the embodiment of the apparatus accord ing to Fig. 1, a base-l is shaped so as to carry the body} of the apparatus and to support a propeller 3 the driving shaft 4 of which is axially and upwardly extended within the body 2 of the apparatus. 1

On the projecting end of the driving shaft 4 is secured, by any suitable means, the disc 5 which, in this case, has'a conical shape.

A partition 6 also secured on the basal is so shaped as to create, below the disc 5,. an annular enclosure 7 for the recoveryof the non-reduced fluid. A cock 8 is arranged at the lower part of the enclosure 1 for extracting, in View of its reutilisation, the non-reducedfluid.

The annular space 9 left available between the disc 5 and the partition blowingdevice l0.

According to the form of construction chosen, the vanes oi the blowing *device H] are directly secured on the back of the working disc 5.

At'the upper part of the body '2 of theap- 6 is used for housing the paratus is secured a ring I I reinforcing said body when the latter is made of sheet metal and comprising an internal screw thread I2 intended to receive a second screw threaded'ring l3 carrying;

a reservoir M of cylindrical shape containing the liquid I5 to be treated.

The bottom of the reservoir 14 is of conical shape, at I6, terminating in aportion ll of reduced diameter carrying a nozzle 18 having a calibrated hole l9 for the passage of the liquid issuing from the reservoir [4.

The screw threaded ring I3 is so constructed as to provide, at the centre, a vertical hub- 20 top of'pipe 33-the cover 3| is removed and the valve 24 is slightly lifted from itsseat, located on the conical part I6 of reservoir M, by causing the hand-wheel 2| to rotate in the required dimotion, the propeller 3 is simultaneously set in action, and, through its driving shaft 4, rotatively drives the working disc 5.

The liquid to .be treated which, after having passed about the valve 24 issues fromthe reservoir I4, through the calibrated orifice [9, falls in the cup 36 of the rotating disc 5, in a zone from which the liquid starts at apractically null speed internally threaded for receiving an operating hand-wheel 2| comprising a screw threaded sleeve 22. I he hand-wheel 2i carries a rod 23 the lower end of which is provided with a conical closing valve 24. The fluid-tightness of the conical valve on the cone I 6 of the reservoir I4 is reinforced by a washer made of suitable material 25 secured I which the ultra-dispersions produced in the form of a'film can issue from the apparatus are providedwith'suitablecloth; filters 29 intended to protect the internal mechanism from external agents. I I

The screw threaded ring I3 is provided with wings 30 facilitating the screwing of the reservoirv l l for the liquid to be treated, inthe apparatus.

A cover 3.! is. placed onthe ring [3 so as to ensure a sufiicient fluid-tightness so that no leakage to the atmosphere is possible.

The. disc 5 has series of perforation 32 for the passage of the air delivered by the blowing device 40.

The blowing device It creates, within the enclosures and 26, a'pressure. which, during the operation of theapparatus, that is to say when the closing valve 24 is open, acts in antagonism to the emptying of the reservoir It; it is therefore necessary that the latter should comprise a means for balancing the pressures since the reservoir is closed to the atmosphere by the cover 3|.

This balancing is obtained by. arranging within the reservoir 14 a pipe-33 which, leading from the bottom of the reservoir, rises up to a level higher than that of the liquid, thus putting the empty space located above the liquid l5 in a state of suitable equilibrium allowing the emptying of the liquid to be treated through the calibrated orifice I9. V v

According to this embodiment the centre of the calibrated orifice I9 through which the liquid issues from the reservoir to fall .on the disc 5 is located on the axis of the apparatus whichis mingled with the axis of rotation of the disc5.

The disc5 presents, at the centre, a tubular housing 34 intended to receive a cylindrical block 35 on the upper face of which is milled a cup .36 for the reception of' the'liquid to be treated falling from thereservoir I4. w

For using the apparatus described-the reser Volt" 14- being previously filled with liquid .to be treated up to 'a level which does not reachto. the.

andacquires on the disc. a uniformly accelerated speed. The extremely thin film which forms follows a path according to a curve of the second degree to escape tangentially.

As the ultra-dispersions must be subjected to Brownian motion and, must depend on the superficial exciting, their thinning has already allowed an increase of surface,

The blowing device l0 being synchronised with the rotation of disc 5, the air stream sent by said device allows of obtaining an increase of the exciting by circulation and by' heat exchange.

The ultra-dispersions are then in the enclosure 25 and escape from the apparatus through the openings 28, after having passed between the inverted truncated cone 2? and the reservoir [4.

The non reduced liquid strikeain the. form of droplets, the inside of the bo'dyZ above-the level of disc 27 and adheres on said surface of the body 2"from which it falls into the recoveryenclosure I. I I

F'rom said recovery enclosure 1 the non reduced liquid can be taken-up again through the cock 8 to be subsequently placed again in the reservoir l4.

In Fig. 2 has been shown, more or less diagrammatically, the essential part of an apparatus 40 which is particularly suitabl'e for the production of ultra-dispersionssmokein such quantities that'they allow the camouflage, either of warships, or of land positions- The large receiver 5' rotativel'yfdriven by the shaft 4 of a sufiiciently powerful propeller 3 has a shape resembling that of a fiat plate andthe thickness of which relatively great at the centre gradually thins towards the slightly turned up edges .of' the periphery-so as to reduce as 'much as possible the peripheral weight; whereas the material'to be treated-liquid solution or pulverulent produotis emptied on said receiver through an orifice calibrated or not at a rate, litres per hour, relatively important.

In Fig. 3 a rotary-receiver 5 has been shown. According to said figure, at a certain distance above the receiver 5 is arranged a disc having approximately the same profile so that a real pump 6i i is created resulting from the action of the'blowing device'il lustra-ted in Fig. 1. The,

function of said pump is'to complete the formation of the, ultra-dispersions and to: facilitate their evacuation towards the atmosphere.

terial to. be treated falling at thecentre of the receiver 5 begins to thin and 'the film in formation escapes tangentially fromthe ring 55. The thinning. accentuatesup to a secondstage E5 of slightly greater height and so on according.

to the number of stages provided and the film finally leaves the rotary plate 5 as in the preceding examples.

In certain cases this arrangement allows of increasing the limit of resilient distortion of the film in formation.

It is to be understood that the embodiments illustrated have been described only by way of explanatory examples and not in a limiting sense, and that all modifications can be made therein without changing the nature of the invention. Thus, for instance, the reducing receiver can have any shape other than those shown, for instance the shape might extend from the flat shape to the various concave or convex shapes. The working stages, instead of being secured in position might be constituted by concentric undulations of the receiver itself. The blower might be of any known type and arranged in any other place in the apparatus and even outside the latter. The air draught might also be replaced by any injection under pressure of gas or of vapours. The vanes of the blowing device instead of being secured on the receiver, might be constituted by alveoles made in the receiver itself. The dropping zone for the product to be reduced, on the receiver might be located on a radius more or less remote from the axis of rotation.

I claim:

1. In an apparatus for putting in suspension in the atmosphere an ultra-dispersed fluid or a dry powdered product, a rotatable dischaving its axis directed vertically, means for rotating said disc at a high speed, means for placingsmall quantities of said fluid to be dispersed upon said disc, an air impeller driven by said rotating means for directing an air current along the edge of said disc, a casing forming a swirl chamber surrounding said disc, said casing havingan outlet extending around its side wall axially spaced from. the disc, and means between the disc and the outlet for removing oversized particles from the air passing to the outlet, said means comprising an inverted frusto-conical partition mounted in said casing concentric with said disc, its restricted lower open end being of less diameter than that of the'disc, and immediately above the disc, and its flared upper open end being immediately below said casing outlet, '50 that the velocity of the air forced by the impeller toward the casing outlet continuously decreases from the disc to the outlet, to facilitate deposit of the larger particles of material.

2. An apparatus as claimed in claim 1, in combination with a second disc havin approximately the same profile as said rotatable disc intended to receive the fluid to be dispersed and. means for holding said second disc ata certain height above said rotatable disc intended to receive said fluid to be dispersed.

EMILE PIQUEREZ. 

